The Range: The Tucson Weekly's Daily Dispatch

Cunningham Files for Ward 2; Pima Dems Bring a Little Smack To GOP

Ward 2 City Councilman Paul Cunningham filed his petitions today to run for the Ward 2 City Council seat he was appointed to after the resignation of Rodney Glassman last year.

Cunningham's filing brought a little smack talk from the Pima County Democratic Party:

In the 2011 city election sweepstakes, all three Democratic council members and mayoral candidate Jonathan Rothschild have filed signatures required to get on the ballot, while not a single Republican has managed to do the same.

In fact, the Democratic candidates filed nearly twice the required number of signatures necessary to be placed on the ballot this fall.

Where are the Republicans? Anyone?

“We may be looking at an enthusiasm gap,” said Pima County Democratic Party Chair Jeff Rogers. “The Republicans haven't yet managed to file a single set of signatures. They've been struggling to find candidates, and the ones they have recruited are cut from the same cloth as Phoenix Republican boss Russell Pearce, who is fighting an all-out war against Tucson. Tucson voters are too smart to elect a bunch of Frank Antenori clones to the city council. They want representation that’s fighting for their city, not against it.”

It’s possible the Republicans are “playing possum” and will all max out their signatures any day now, Rogers said. “But we’re not holding our breath.”

“We expect this to be a long and drawn-out campaign,” Rogers said. “To our friends at the GOP, you may want to pull yourselves away from talk radio long enough to get your candidates on the ballot. Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh will be there when you are done. Well, maybe not Beck…”